Namco System 246 Documentation Project

Q

quoth09

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I just picked up a System 246 Rev. C (the smaller unit), and on the casing is listed TST3, Ver.A - however I can't find that game ID on any list.

Just wondering if anyone happens to know what game ID TST3 is?

Further more, why aren't people really on here talking much about this hardware?
 
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stormS

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quoth09 said:
I just picked up a System 246 Rev. C (the smaller unit), and on the casing is listed TST3, Ver.A - however I can't find that game ID on any list.

Just wondering if anyone happens to know what game ID TST3 is?

Further more, why aren't people really on here talking much about this hardware?
Click to expand...

In my opinion, because the majority of titles received console ports and there are in comparison to other platforms few units available on the market in the USA. Most are still actively in use or have been junked.

They have relatively low resale value plus the added bonus of extremely limited support from namcoamerica. Useful parts such as network adapters have to be sourced from overseas (Japan, HK etc) as they are not available locally.

Just my 2 cents.

stormS.
 
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NickH.

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Ridge Racer V & Wangan Midnight

Bought a Wangan Midnight kit and although it runs through loading the CD, testing the I/O board and goes into attract mode, if I try to start a game, the screen just goes black and stays that way. No error message, nothing. I can enter test mode and everything tests fine but when I exit test mode, the same thing happens, the screen goes black. This same thing happens if I leave it in attract mode, it goes through the first part, playing the video and music and then goes black. I tried the dongle and CD on my working Ridge Racer V and the same this happens. It is almost like it has the attract mode files but not the game files.

I spoke with Namco who told me this is a DVD based game. but the kit I received had a CD drive as apparently it was an upgraded Ridge Racer V which unlike many of the 246 games, does use a CD, not a DVD.

The security dongle I received, although unlabled does seem to work since the game loads and goes into attract mode. The disc I received was a copy of the games files on a CD. The dics contains the following files: cddata.000, cddata.loc, music.smc, music.smh, rom2ver, shut_B.dat, shut_B.loc & wan.pss

Sooooo, my questions for anyone who might know are:

-Was this a DVD based game (as manuals I have found suggest)? Or was there a also a CD based version used as a direct upgrade for the RRV games?
- Am I correct that if the game loads and goes into attract mode, the dongle is good?
- Is there someplace (other than paying Namco a lot of dough for a game CD/DVD) I can find the files that are supposed to be on the disc and verify I have the correct ones?

Appreciate any help anyone can provide!
 
DevoDave

DevoDave

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NickH. said:
-Was this a DVD based game (as manuals I have found suggest)? Or was there a also a CD based version used as a direct upgrade for the RRV games?
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Don't know.. maybe or maybe not. Shouldn't be a big issue as DVD drives are cheap... Does the drive in your system have a DVD logo on it? Maybe open it up and get the model number and google it.

NickH. said:
- Am I correct that if the game loads and goes into attract mode, the dongle is good?
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My understanding is ... yes. The bootcode is actually on the dongle.

NickH. said:
- Is there someplace (other than paying Namco a lot of dough for a game CD/DVD) I can find the files that are supposed to be on the disc and verify I have the correct ones?
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Someone here may have WM. Burning a copy with IMGBURN is easy... it's the dongle that is protected.
 
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NickH.

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Wangan Midnight

Both the kit I recently bought and my Ridge Racer V have CD (not DVD) drives. The RRV disc and dongle runs on both boards sets. If it needed a DVD, it seems to make sense that it wouldn't load the game and go into attract, right?

The dongle has a number on the back side, NM00008 and in another place,
COH-H10020. On the top side it has a sticker with 2 rows of numebrs; V281 &
DG01.

If anyone has a copy of the disc they could share, that would be great!

Thanks again for the help! :glee:
 
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DevoDave

DevoDave

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NickH. said:
Both the kit I recently bought and my Ridge Racer V have CD (not DVD) drives. The RRV disc and dongle runs on both boards sets. If it needed a DVD, it seems to make sense that it wouldn't load the game and go into attract, right?
Click to expand...

Yes that would make sense... but if all/most of the executable is on the dongle then it's possible the game would still run until it got to a point where it needed data from the optical media and couldn't get it. I would think that would be unlikely, but it's possible.

(What are the cd drive manufacturer/models? Let us know to add to the knowledgebase!)

Okay, so the disk you have is a CD... You could always try reburning it on better media and/or at slower speed to see if that helps.

Anyone got a 'real' WM to help out here??
 
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NickH.

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Wangan Midnight

I made a copy of the CD and got it running on the RRV board set that came with the kit I bought! :glee:

Totally bizare that it will not run on the one (which seems identical) but will run on the other. I checked numbers and PCBs and steer boards are identical. Now I have one that will run both games and one that will only run the RRV disc and dongle.:scratch:

Both board sets have the same sticker (with different serial numbers) that say RRV3 ver.A

Both board sets use a TEAC model 540E (40X) CD drive. Neither game will start without being fully conencted to the I/O-Steering board but then everyone probably knows that.

Played it tonight, very fun game.

Devo Dave, thanks for the help, I Greatly appreciate it!
 
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DevoDave

DevoDave

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No worries NickH. Glad to assist.

The only other thing I can suggest is to swap the CD-drives between the two motherboards to figure out if that is why it works in one but not the other. One CD-drive might be getting a bit old. I know that I have had to replace a few DVD's in our operation already.

You also might like to grab a compatible DVD-drive (or two) as well. Might give you more options in the future.

(I see that Alex has sucessfully dumped some System246 dongles... http://www.amusements-shop.com/2009/04/07/capcom-fighting-jam-namco-system-246/ Might be able to play other games on your System 246's soon...)
 
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N

NickH.

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DevoDave said:
Who to? Me? I didn't get anything. Or did you send to NickH?
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I didn't receive anything either.

The version board that I have are non-jamma. Would they work (if I put DVD drive in them) with the JVS JAMMA I/O that I see with other 246 systems? Even the layout of the connectors is a bit different then say a Tekken 4 or Soul Calibur II. I have heard the the hardware is a little different between some of the 246 games. System16.com seems to suggest the same thing.
 
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DevoDave

DevoDave

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Suck it and see I guess. The CD drives are IDE drives the same as the DVD drives...

By 'version board' you are talking about an I/O board? You'll probably need an I/O to match the games.

I have Time Crisis 3's in my operation, and I just picked up a Tekken 3 on ebay with I/O board, so I'm getting quite a collection.
 
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Madoc Owain

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Troubleshooting - Kidou Senshi Z Gundam Eugh vs Titans

I have a working System 246 board and have been running Soul Calibur II and SC III on it no problem. I bought a copy of Kidou Senshi Z Gundam Eugh vs Titans (DVD and MagicGate dongle) and plugged it in. Didn't manage to get it working though - it boots to the configuration screen then when I exit, it will go right back to the configuration screen again. Has anyone seen this behavior before?

Madoc Owain
http://www.madocowain.com/Arcade/arcade.html
 
DevoDave

DevoDave

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Madoc Owain said:
I bought a copy of Kidou Senshi Z Gundam Eugh vs Titans (DVD and MagicGate dongle) and plugged it in. .. it boots to the configuration screen then when I exit, it will go right back to the configuration screen again.
Click to expand...

(I assume that dip switch 1 is off! DIP1 = Test mode)

If it runs anything at all, then the disk and dongle must be working. Is the program perhaps looking for something different on the I/O side? I have recently seen a System246 main board without the kick-harness connection...

What I/O board are you using?
 
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stormS

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As per DevoDave, please post which io board you using, as well as which System 246 mainboard rev you using (a, b or c)? I've run that game on both rev b 's and c's.

It should also work on a System 256 with the mode jumper set to "246+".
 
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pun84

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Hey guys, is there any way to remove the DVD drive completely and use a compact flash drive instead?

Every dvd drive i put into my tekken4 system 246 dies after a few months pretty quickly.

thanks
 
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evildede

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Anyone know where I can buy a kick harness for the Namco I/O board? I am in desperate need of one. Thanks!
 
MaNiAc-Uk

MaNiAc-Uk

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Madoc Owain said:
I have a working System 246 board and have been running Soul Calibur II and SC III on it no problem. I bought a copy of Kidou Senshi Z Gundam Eugh vs Titans (DVD and MagicGate dongle) and plugged it in. Didn't manage to get it working though - it boots to the configuration screen then when I exit, it will go right back to the configuration screen again. Has anyone seen this behavior before?

Madoc Owain
http://www.madocowain.com/Arcade/arcade.html
Click to expand...

got the same issue i think its as the mobo isnt networked even though when i put it in to standard mode comes straight back to test menu even with dip 1 off.

using the standard namco i/o its a revision A board.

will try later with jvs i/o and see if that helps.

got a copy of tekken 4 when i attempt to load nothing happens disc is scratch free so im guessing its dongle or does the system look for kick wiring?

again will try later with jvs io when i make power hack wiring.
 
MaNiAc-Uk

MaNiAc-Uk

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evildede said:
Anyone know where I can buy a kick harness for the Namco I/O board? I am in desperate need of one. Thanks!
Click to expand...

as in buttons 4 5 and 6?

jammaboards.com sells them same as capcom io from what my reserch has gatherd.
 
MaNiAc-Uk

MaNiAc-Uk

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MaNiAc-Uk said:
got the same issue i think its as the mobo isnt networked even though when i put it in to standard mode comes straight back to test menu even with dip 1 off.

using the standard namco i/o its a revision A board.

will try later with jvs i/o and see if that helps.

got a copy of tekken 4 when i attempt to load nothing happens disc is scratch free so im guessing its dongle or does the system look for kick wiring?

again will try later with jvs io when i make power hack wiring.
Click to expand...

right to fix the test screen issue turn on test menu dip and it will work. for some reason on is off and off is on on the gundam games.

hope this helps.

still having issues with tekken 4 just blue screen flash then goes to first load then nothing any idea's?
 
deviljin102

deviljin102

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When i turn on my tekken 4 on, i get a warning green light on the jamma board and the fan spins, i noticed i am missing the jvs harness, so am i getting this warning because of that? or is it something else?

sorry i am new to the 246 scene.
 
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